Stretching the digital dollars across the globe

Bulking up a digital empire can be extremely profitable for an organization, but only if it has the means and support to do so. To pinch every last penny out of their companies' budgets, marketers have to deliver results and show the benefits digital can provide.

According to the APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard by the CMO Council and Adobe Systems—a report that focuses on marketing tactics in the Asia-Pacific Region—37% of marketers devote less than 10% of their marketing budget to digital marketing such as email, web, social media, e-commerce, and mobile.

While 93% of surveyed respondents consider incorporating digital to be a “competitive advantage,” only 6% rank their digital marketing aptitudes highly. What's more, despite 51% of respondents claiming that digital propels more efficient and more cost-effective engagement, 40% admit to needing digital improvement or to falling behind the pack.

If marketers in APAC want to be where the consumers are, turning to digital is inevitable. According to the report, Asia makes up 40% of global Internet consumers in terms of population, yet only experiences a 21% Internet penetration. The report also notes that the APAC region is a big spender in mobile and is expected to account for $2.6 billion this year.

Tackling social is one of the main tasks respondents hope to cross off their digital to-do lists, as 52% cite social media as a key priority for next year. But when it comes to injecting business with a heaping dose of digital, one question remains: Where to begin? The report states that 40% of respondents battle with building a case for digital spend, 39% struggle with pinpointing which resources to apply, and 53% wrestle with budget limitations.

However, it appears that marketers in APAC may find a few extra digital dollars in their budgets. In fact, 63% of surveyed marketers cite senior support for consumers' preference for digital experiences as the prime reason for a wider wallet. Yet, while 30% say their corporate heads support experimenting with new digital options, 21% note that they're struggling to persuade business leaders to take the digital dive. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed expect their digital spend to increase between 10 to 24%, while 22% of respondents forecast a spending surge of between 25 to 49%.

Yet, no strategy can succeed without a winning team--another key ingredient respondents claim to be missing. Only 13% of surveyed marketers say they have an adequate digital team with a suitable level of expertise. Nevertheless, marketers in APAC remain optimistic; 33% claim that their company's proficiency is improving.